Frequently used academic accommodations
We have compiled a list of frequent academic accommodations utilized by students at UVic and corresponding accessible teaching strategies that can be implemented during course design. For accessible and inclusive pedagogical course design, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles offers considerations and potential strategies to create better access for learners*. While these strategies may mitigate barriers and reduce the need to implement individual accommodations, they will not necessarily meet individual students’ academic accommodations. Academic accommodations may require instructors to adapt their teaching or assessment approaches for individual students.
Universal Design for Learning is a practical framework that prioritizes flexibility and choice, setting clear rigorous goals and proactively designing to minimize barriers. Read more on CAST https://www.cast.org/
Assignment extension accommodation
Assignment extension accommodation allows a student to occasionally negotiate an assignment due date for reasons related to disability or chronic health issues.
Strategy: Provide specific time parameters and guidance
Time is an ever-present variable in the learning process and affects every aspect of teaching and learning. Time can be both a conduit to enhance learning and it can create considerable barriers for learners. Students generally do better when they have clarity of time expectations and parameters for their academic tasks related to required readings and assignments (Margolis & Feinberg, 2020). By providing specific time estimations and parameters for each academic task, you can increase accessibility for all students, including those who have extensions as part of their academic accommodations.
When you offer clear parameters in every aspect of your course design and time estimations for academic tasks, students have clarity on the time commitment for your course. This also helps students identify personal areas of challenge where they may choose to seek additional support, such as office hours, working with a learning strategist, or consulting with an Academic Advisor about their course load.
Additional tips
- Provide specific time parameters and guidance
- Add information on how to request additional time if needed or offer extensions where feasible without requiring communication or documentation (see examples).
- Consider giving no-penalty extensions if students provide a completion timeline (create a scaffold of the timeline in collaboration with the student).
Example communications
“This assignment is estimated to take 10 – 15 hours between research, writing and editing. It is recommended you begin this assignment at least two weeks prior to the due date (provide specific date). A 24-hour no penalty extension is allowed without communication. For any further extensions please contact me and we can work together with developing a timeline that allows you to successfully complete the assignment.”
“This course implements an assignment extension ticketing system. Each student is allocated (provide number based on frequency of assignments) ‘extension tickets’ per term. If you are unable to complete an assignment by the scheduled due date you can opt to use an ‘extension ticket’ to apply a 48 hour no-penalty extension (provide method of contact). If you have used your allocated extensions and require additional time for an assignment, please contact me before the assignment due date and we can work together to develop a timeline that allows you to successfully complete the assignment.”
Attendance accommodation
Attendance accommodation allows a student to occasionally miss class without penalty or reduction in grade for reasons related to disability or chronic health issues.
Strategy: Measure engagement instead of attendance
Flexibility in attendance policies or measuring engagement rather than attendance can better assess the learning process and create a more inclusive learning environment. Students may not be able to attend every class due to family responsibilities, special appointments, illness, religious observances among other issues. Acknowledging these realities for your students and seeking other ways to ensure they are engaged in your class increases inclusion for all. There are several options for measuring engagement, such as offering asynchronous engagement opportunities, measuring attendance as engagement with flexible parameters or a combination of both. When designing your course, determine the specific parameters of engagement and attendance participation you require of your students and then clearly communicate this in your course materials.
If you choose to measure engagement instead of attendance (or in combination) look for a variety of ways students can engage in your course including but not limited to:
- Online discussions
- Class note taking rotation or class shared Word document
- Ungraded brief summaries of a lecture
If you have integrated attendance into the course assessment design and it needs to be both marked and measured, then consider allowing some flexibility. For example, you may choose to outline that students can have an allotted number of absences without communication and that these absences will not be penalized. Explain your policy clearly in the syllabus or course outline and consider addressing this verbally in your first class.
Example communication
“While this class prioritizes attendance and it is included as participatory points toward your final grade, I realize that sometimes life’s daily activities, illness and other barriers can prevent attendance at every class. Each student is allowed up to (determine number based on class frequency) missed classes without penalty and do not need to provide communication or reason for absence within these parameters. If you foresee or encounter an extended period of consecutively missed classes, please reach out to me so we can work together for the best way forward.”
Audio recording of lectures accommodation
An audio recording of lectures accommodation allows the student to record the audio of your lectures for their own review.
Strategy: Record lectures in Echo360
Providing class recordings increases accessibility for all students, both those who have recordings as part of their academic accommodations as well as for students who are still developing their note taking skills, and students who must occasionally miss class due to illness, appointments, family commitments or religious observances. We suggest that instructors record their classes through Echo360 and provide clarity to students on how, where and when they can obtain these recordings. If a specific part of a lesson cannot be recorded (e.g., the recording of specific Indigenous knowledge violates cultural protocol), consider providing an alternative such as a narrated PowerPoint. Clearly outline your policy regarding accessing the recordings in your course materials. To ensure the recording is audible, use the provided lapel microphone and repeat questions and comments from the class. Ensure you include captions on your recordings, these can be automatically generated through Echo 360.
Example communication
“The lectures in this course will be recorded and provided to students (specify process students can access the recorded lectures).”
Distraction reduced environment for assessments accommodation
A distraction reduced environment for assessments allows a student to write timed assessments in a less distracting space with reduced environmental stimuli. An environment with reduced distraction makes it easier for a student to focus on the assessment and reduce impacts related to disability or chronic-health issues. A distraction-reduced environment should have significantly less of all types of distraction than a typical assessment environment.
Strategy: Offer an online assessment
Consider offering alternative formats for some assessments that eliminate the in-person attendance and invigilation restrictions. An online asynchronous assessment or other alternate format allows students to complete the assessment in an environment of their choosing and (potentially) on their own time.
Example
Set up a Brightspace quiz to be taken some time between 8:00 AM – 11:59 PM on a specific day. Students can then decide where they would like to take the quiz such as their home or in a quiet library space, and at a time of day that fits their schedule and other commitments. A quiz created from a ‘pool’ of questions so that students receive different (but equivalent) versions of the quiz can help reduce the potential for collaboration.
Strategy: Provide an alternate assessment
Consider providing alternate assessment types that can improve the accessibility of your course and allow students to demonstrate their acquired knowledge and skills in a variety of ways.
- Multi-media assignments
- Multi-phase assessments (taken over two or more classes)
- Take Home Assessment
- Presentation or portfolio assessment
Five function calculator accommodation
A five-function calculator accommodation allows a student to use a five-function calculator (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and exponentiation) during exams.
Strategy: Integrate learning tools as part of the assessment
By allowing students to use tools and materials in assessments that are part of the everyday class learning and teaching process you improve accessibility and provide opportunities for students to better demonstrate their skills, knowledge and abilities. Giving permission for students to use these tools also provides a more accurate representation of how students will engage with their field of study in working environments outside the classroom. Consider analyzing which materials or tools could be incorporated into the assessment process while still maintaining the intended learning outcomes and academic integrity of the task.
Consider allowing materials within a set parameter such as:
- Five Function Calculator
- Extra paper
- One page (or other parameter) of notes
- Open book, articles or papers
- Laptop or other word processing device
Electronic devices in class accommodation
Strategy: Integrate the use of electronics in your class so students can make the choice to use them or not
Laptops, tablets and other electronic devices are ubiquitous in almost any University environment. They are an essential tool of education and necessary for students to access required course information and content and reflect the tools they will use in their field of study in working environments outside the classroom. Many students use their device as an essential point of access to their listening, understanding and note taking (Beals & Beals, 2016). LTSI recommends an open policy on the use of electronic devices and to communicate this policy to students at the start of the course. If there is a concern that the use of electronics may lead to distraction for other students, be clear about your expectations (or create a class agreement) regarding their use. To reduce distractions in a face-to-face course, you could opt to divide the classroom into zones: a tech use zone and tech–free zone.
Example communication
“I welcome you to use your laptop or tablet during class for notes and other activity related to the specific class content. I request you be respectful of the other students and the learning process by ensuring they are muted and do not distract from the focus of the class.”
“I know that many of you prefer to use your laptop or tablet in class to take notes or follow the slides. To create an inclusive and distraction free environment I am allocating one half of the classroom (indicate specifics of physical location) to those that prefer to use electronics in class and the other half to those that prefer no electronics. For those that prefer to use them I ask that they remain muted and used only in relation to the class content and materials.”
Peer notetaker accommodation
A peer notetaker accommodation helps a student access a classmate’s notes to supplement their own.
Option: Shared Word document for weekly class notetaking
Learning how to take useful and comprehensive class notes is an essential skill for student success (Penn, 2020). Supporting students in learning this skill, especially in their first year, can provide an essential foundation which they can use throughout their education (van der Meer, 2012). Consider ways to help produce shared lecture notes for your class, consider:
- Create a shared lecture note document in Word or annotated slides in PowerPoint with embedded topics and timelines related to each class’s content.
- Create a volunteer sign up where students can assign themselves to one class and input notes into a shared document. Set parameters and time frames around the notes (Ex. one–two pages, within 24 hours of class completion) so students understand what is expected.
- For first year or large classes, consider providing an outline for each class with the central topics that will be covered in sequential order, provide this to students before the class begins so they can use it as a guide for notetaking.
By using a shared document, information is included as to which student added the notes and allows others to make comments and ask questions. You can also use this as part of measuring engagement in your course. Alternatively, you can consider a rotating note taker role where students (on a voluntary sign-up) take handwritten or word-processed notes on their own for one (or two) classes and count these notes as marked engagement. These notes are then made available to all students.
References
- Beals, K., & Beals, K. (2016). Speech and language technology for language disorders (1st ed.). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614516453
- Margolis, M. J., & Feinberg, R. A. (Eds.). (2020). Integrating timing considerations to improve testing practices. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
- Penn, P. (2020). The psychology of effective studying: how to succeed in your degree (1st ed.). Routledge.
- Slaughter, M. H., Lindstrom, J. H., & Anderson, R. (2020). Perceptions of Extended Time Accommodations Among Postsecondary Students With Disabilities. Exceptionality, 30(4), 246–260. https://doi.org/10.1080/09362835.2020.1727339
- van der Meer, J. (2012). Students’ note-taking challenges in the twenty-first century: considerations for teachers and academic staff developers. Teaching in Higher Education, 17(1), 13–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2011.590974
